


Learning to Fly

by PluckingPathways



Category: Constantine (2005), Devilman (Anime & Manga), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: and izuku being the sunshine that he is even in bad conditions, but theres more to it, devilman!izuku, just violence, none of that weird sexy stuff, then theres this convoluted idea
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-05
Packaged: 2020-10-05 19:26:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20494019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PluckingPathways/pseuds/PluckingPathways
Summary: Something new and dangerous haunted the city. People were going missing or being attacked by strange creatures straight out of nightmares. Heroes and police were on high alert, searching for the cause.And little, incredibly kind-hearted Midoriya Izuku was caught in the middle of it.What you suspect is correct. You’re not alone in your head anymore.He still looked down and rising from the Pit came a Serpent. One of hunger and vulgarity and endless trickery and hunting.It looked him in the eye and It grinned.





	1. The Dark Below

**Author's Note:**

> My brain: hey, look at this.  
Me: What the fudge, heck no! I'm not mixing that wholesome world with that chaotic, vivid nightmare of a show.  
My brain: *slides over some scenes, and then some more*  
Me: F*ck.

Something new and dangerous haunted the city. People were going missing or being attacked by strange creatures straight out of nightmares. Heroes and police were on high alert, searching for the cause. 

And little, incredibly kind-hearted Midoriya Izuku got caught in the middle of it. 

His head shot up, eyes bright, at a scream and the muffled sound of someone being kicked and whimpering. 

Ever-kind and with the urge to help being a core instinct, on hearing a cry for help - even after a long day of watching hero fights- made Izuku _ move _. 

He quietly rounded the corner, and found the start of this story.

There was some kind of markings on the ground in a gross, shining red- 

A man tied up and being held on the ground was cut in places and tossed into the smears of blood. The other two men, the captors, were writing more symbols and referencing a book. 

Izuku pulled out his phone, dialed the police. He was just a quirkless kid - he _ couldn't _ and _ shouldn't _ try to take these guys down. 

Softly and far enough away, he told the police his location. Just as all the important information was given to them, Izuku stopped talking. The operator was warning him not to interfere, that an underground pro was close by and would be there in minutes with backup following. But Izuku stopped listening.

Instead, Izuku was now focused on the shining red symbols on the ground. He probably imagined it… but he thought he heard something like many voices whispering - it tickled the corners of his mind. All of those voices chanted of evil. 

Mounting dread poured over him. He just knew, irrevocably, that something horrible was about to happen to that man tied on the ground. 

And without thinking, his feet moved. 

His hand found a board and silently he slid closer. 

“It should be working.”

“Well, it’s not. Fix it.”

“I'm trying. Just shut up.”

Izuku moved closer, preparing to whack the closest captor over the head. One hit to this one's cheek and to the other one's forehead - he could take them out in a few seconds. 

One more step over the markings…

Both were trained on the last few symbols finally being drawn. “Okay…”

The victim, tied and gagged in front of them, screamed chilling and high. 

Cold immediately shot down Izuku’s spine and the air thudded like it was thick and living, suddenly warm.

“Ah, there it is. See, it works.” The two assulters backed off, watching the man bound and writhing. “And the last piece to complete...” A knife cut open a gash among the many scabbed cuts on his arms, blood seeping and splashing on the symbols. 

Then victim started to change. His limbs lengthened and grew, bulged and tore open the bindings. The man turned a grotesque purple, like he was bruised entirely, and his high scream turned into a throaty roar that reverberated monstrously. 

Once a victim, now turned into a nightmare with thorns spouting in rivers down his skin, two tails, and head turned into one giant mouth. 

Izuku's foot scuffed as he backed away. 

“Oh, we caught another one too. How perfect.” Red eyes and a bloody smile full of insanity, one of the villains who'd drawn the symbols. “You should have stayed home, kid. Welcome to Hell.”

And indeed the air was burning, rippling like in the desert. It weighed on him, pressed on his skin, mouth and eyes, searching for a way in. Izuku held his breath and backed away but found that the edge of the now glowing symbols, that air had thickened to a wall too high to reach over and no way under. An invisible wall caging him in, trapped in that possessive heat.

He looked down and for a moment the cement wasn't there. 

Izuku looked down and saw writhing bodies of humans and creatures, nightmares and fears, all wailing and crying, or laughing at the chaos. 

Still the rancid air pressed against him. And finally it found a small chink in his armour and slid in like a needle to his heart.

He still looked down and rising from the Pit came a Serpent. One of hunger and vulgarity and endless trickery and hunting. 

It looked him in the eye and It grinned.

  
  


The rest Izuku didn't quite remember. Just a faint memory of the hole in his armour being forced open, another mind, decrepit and cloying, forcing it's way into his own. 

And then blackness and fury. And then nothing... 

~~~~~~

Expertly running down streets and over cars, using his capture weapon to swing himself faster, Eraserhead responded quickly to the call of a victim bound and the attackers drawing symbols on the ground. 

He reached the alley, landing defly above on the edge of the roof and he scouted over the side. 

A massive purple body, two tails and spikes running all over its skin, shot above him. Eraser vaulted back, narrowly missing being shredded or impaled as a nightmarish hand raked past him.

The creature landed, canid body prowling a few steps and back along the roof. 

He'd never seen anything like this. 

If this was a quirk, it was one of the most vulgar effects he'd ever seen. 

And with what had been haunting this city, he didn't think it was a quirk. 

The face, really just a mouth with spiraling teeth, snapped at him. It's muscles bunched as it launched for attack. 

Another shadow appeared, this one longer. Eraser caught a glimpse of mane and scale and a flash of green before it swiped a massive hand, gouging the leaping purple nightmare and throwing it from the roof. 

Glowing green cyanide eyes stared at Eraserhead from the dark, not moving and not attacking, but watching like a cat watches prey. 

Eraser activated his quirk, testing...

The glow of the eyes grows more sickly and it’s mouth spreads open, revealing glinting sharp teeth that shine and stretch longer in the barely-light. 

Still under the heroes activated quirk, the creature's body grows larger, it's posture turns aggressive. It advances and attacks. 

The hero dodges a strike from a massive clawed paw, loses eye contact and when he turns again - it’s gone, running over rooftops. 

A chase begins but the trail was lost after only a few moments, for such a massive body it was fast and slipped somewhere. Even with another hour of looking, the underground hero saw no more sign of it. 

Dropping his hopes for the hunt, Eraserhead perched above the street and glared up at the light-polluted sky. City stretched around humming with life, and he knew, a new terror sliding along it's roads. 

And he could not help but feel he had missed something terrible. 

~~~~~

ITS MORNING. WAKE UP AND MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE. TRUST THAT GOODNESS IN YOURSELF AND OTHERS! PLUS ULTRA!

His All Might alarm buzzed and jolted him awake. 

Izuku sat up in bed, right in his hero-postered bedroom where he should be, and he patted down all over his body. 

He seemed fine. 

Even looking in the mirror he seemed okay. He looked the same… everything seemed normal. 

Maybe- maybe it was all just a dream… Maybe none of that happened...

But he remembered. Remembered seeing that _ Thing _ . And that _ Place _. Then nothing...

It was weird... But until he saw real proof of something wrong, he could continue to think the whole thing was a nightmare. 

So Izuku got ready for school as normal, kissed his mom goodbye and walked the usual route. 

Morning classes and announcements showed bits of news. Local people going missing, being attacked, just all around higher aggravation of the city...

This had been increasing for weeks. Enough to warrant frequent hero patrols, amping security.

Classes were normal, he took his rigorous notes and answered questions as well as he could. Overall, it was a pretty good day. 

At the end of the day he was walking to the school exit, pulling at his shirt which seemed a lot tighter than usual. And were his pants shorter? They seemed fine this morning, but now every piece of clothing felt tight… Weird. 

And then the day got worse…

“Shitty Deku, don't get yourself taken out there - all these disappearances going on.” Bakugo and his cronies waited for him by the door and said with venom, “But maybe nobody would notice if you were gone, with how _ useless _ you are.”

Distantly in Izuku's mind a fire started- it grew higher and hotter. 

Normally he would just walk away. But today Pride had another thing to say. 

Izuku's mouth spoke without him thinking. “You want to be a hero right, Bakugou?” 

_ Okay _ , this was _ weird _, Izuku was looking directly into Baukgo's eyes, maybe even a little downward? But… Bakugo was taller than him, right? There was no way Izuku was taller than him... “If you want to be a hero, you shouldn't say things like that.”

Bakugo pulled himself up, brows furrowed also maybe noticing the seeming change in height. “What did you say to me? Why would I ever listen to you?”

The flames in his mind crackled and grew and Izuku's mouth seemed to move on its own. _ “ _ ** _That's a foul mouth you got. Not uplifting or supportive at all. If all you want to do is tear others down, maybe you’d make a better villain_ ** _ .” _

Okay, what the heck- Izuku did not mean to say that... He would never say something like- 

A fist flew to Izuku's face and hit along his nose. 

He choked and snorted out blood. Another fist came but this time his body moved again. 

Bakugo's fist stopped dead in Izuku’s palm. 

He and Izuku both stared in shock. Izuku had caught the punch and it had been easy- super easy- he barely thought about it.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Bakugo's red eyes narrowed. “You're different.”

_ Different _? What did that mean?!

“You don't look normal at all. Did you finally get your quirk, you fuck?”

The fist in his hand twitched and Izuku’s fingers lightly squeezed. Faintly there was a tiny crack.

Bakugo’s eyes slit with pain and he jerked himself free with a gasp, his hand red and sore.

Those flames in the back of Izuku's mind laughed at the blonde kid's pain, cackled merrily at defeating the smug bastard. 

One thing cracked like lightning in Izuku's mind: _ This wasnt right. _

Izuku fled, ran to the bathroom, shoes clacking and blood dripping on the hallway floors. Bakugo let him go. 

Izuku made it the the boys restroom and looked in the mirror. 

That wasn't his face. Not his usual face. 

The rest of the world melted away as Izuku stared in horror and confusion at himself- at whatever he was now...

His eyes were darker, black lines under and over. They were angry and dangerous. His hair was longer and wild, his cheeks higher and leaner. Izuku opened his mouth. And swallowed. His… his teeth were sharper. 

Overall, especially with the blood staining under his nose, he looked _ different. _Alien and overall just more… dangerous. Rough. Like he would punch someone and maybe smile. 

_ Oh god. But why? He’d been fine this morning! What triggered this? School… Bakugo… _ _ Think of home. Think of sleep. _

He thought of home. Pictured his mom, pictured the breakfast he’d eaten, organizing his room, everything that was quiet and normal...

When he felt calmer and his body relaxed, Izuku opened his eyes, and saw his usual face staring back. 

_ Wha- what? _

He reached up to his nose, felt it gingerly and frowned. With some water to clean the blood off, he touched it again. It was fine, like nothing had ever happened. 

_ Ugh, that was weird too… _

Completely unsure of what to do or what was happening, he went home. Bakugo was gone when he left school grounds. No one was around. 

Walking the sidewalk, he thought about what he’d said to Bakugo. He- he hadn't thought them. Those words... They weren't his.

** _No, they were not. _ **

Izuku stopped walking. 

** _Hmm. Yes. What you suspect is correct. You’re not alone in your head anymore_ ** _ . _

An image of that great beast rising from the writhing chaos, sharp teeth and smiling at him, the prey, with malicious greed. 

** _Yes. That is us now. Or well just you. There is something wrong with you, human. Most would be writhing in the joy of battle or greed now. But you- you went to school. And even let yourself be hit. Oh, how I've fallen._ **

Izuku asked, _ Just, who are you? _

** _Some of my Old Names were Dreams Made Real, Last Shadow, and Glass Hunter. Take your pick, for I was all and more... But I don't think I have a name now. Except maybe Izuku. _ **

_ That’s my name. _

** _Yes. And it will be mine... Every hour Iesser than before. So much less._ **

_ What are you? _

** _A Demon. One of the Great Hunters and a Trader. My will made real and mortals gave me their souls with pleasure. My word shaped the world._ **

_ Why.. why are you here? _

** _The gate was opened. I came for a prize. But you are no ordinary prize. None can withstand possessions like this. But you do…. Now - I'm your own. _ **

Izuku just blinked at the sidewalk, completely unsure and confused. He blinked some more, then he just walked the rest of the way home. 


	2. Caught In the Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Is this me, or am I  
Lost and just along for the ride

Izuku got home, ate some of his mom's wonderful cooking, and then passed out without even taking his clothes off. 

The sleep he fell to some might call a sleep of recovery, body trying to recoup. And the morning only confirmed that he was sick. Every muscle hurt and his head was fuzzy. 

School was torture. His skin itched. He felt hot. 

Every tap of his classmates pen or toe on the ground made him twitch. 

Bakugo watched him with a sidelong glance all day, but said nothing. No one approached as he left school. 

Thunderhead clouds brewed on the horizon and a cold wind swept in. 

The voice in his head was quiet today, like it didn't exist at all. But Izuku felt sick, strained. And something large coiled and stretched on the edge of his mind. 

The day had been long. His whole body felt weary, like a muscle had been pushed and finally cracked and trembled under too long pressure. With that feeling came the Hell in him rising stronger.

He laid in bed, shivering and fighting his body. Figurative glass shards dug into his brain.

Outside, the clouds opened and rain poured down, soaking the city in every crack and crevice, pouring through the homes and pleasant streets. Lightning crackled, bright and dangerous, and hidden under his covers, desperate, Izuku trembled. 

This wasn't right. _ Nothing _ was right. 

The regular world was now technicolor, everything bright and vivid and _ grating. _

Sounds he shouldn't be hearing were like claws tapping and tearing through the soft folds and edges of his brain. 

His mom scraping the bottom of the pan of chicken in the kitchen, the neighbor humming. And worst of all… 

Crying from far, far away, over the pitter-patter of rain, made his newly draconic pupils shrink in rage. 

Demonic shrieks and laughter echoed in distant parts of the city, grating evidence of the little demons already arrived pillaging where they could. 

… _Those_ **_critin_**_. _Mutilating people where he could hear. **_This was his_**_. _And these fledglings thought they could take and take…

Thunder cracked and rain sputtered in through the suddenly open window in Izuku’s room. His hands pushed against the frame, holding himself back from jumping out. Wind churned the storm over head and all the city was covered in the deep dark.

Rain dripped down and fell from his nose soaking the carpet, his eyes scrunched trying to stop the onslaught of sensory. 

_ This wasnt right. _He fought the burning, but it only grew.

_ They were all so soft. _ His Mom - earlier he'd looked at her and traitorous thoughts of _ weak, defenseless prey _ bombarded him. She needed protecting from those things out there. ** _Cause they would come for her too. _ **

Teeth grew longer, his body leaner, and clawed tips cracked the edges of the frame. 

** _But the fledglings won't dare when we remind them. The Hunter rules His domain. And this is ours to keep. _ **

His home, his neighborhood, his neighbors… They are_ his… _

An angry yell and unbidden whimper from some streets down - a vivid image came to his mind of two demonic black dogs circling a black-haired teen, her backpack held in front defensively even as she fell to the ground from a deep, bloody bite wound in her calf. The demon dogs laughed with teeth and dripping saliva. 

_ No… _

** _Yes. _ **

Lips curled up, loosed teeth in a snarl, “**No.”**

In some corner of his mind lingered thoughts of horror in the wake of bloodlust flooding. But it was small and unheaded as an inhuman leap carried him out, drenched and now caught in the rain, into the storm full and dark and thundering.

~~~~~~

The creature that dropped from nowhere in front of the defiant, black-haired girl was taller than a normal human, with a thick mane running down its head, shoulders, and back.

The defiance she had kept, even with her bitten leg and being cornered, now stuttered to nothing. This _ thing _was far more than the dog creatures.

“Ggggrrhhhhhhrrrllllll…” Just hearing it’s tiger-growl thud in the air was far more terrifying, even when the dogs had sunk in their teeth and danced around taunting her. She scooted further into the wall, backpack suddenly clutched in horror.

Swift and deadly, it’s draconic leg snapped forward, crushing the skull of one before it could even move. A raptor claw on it's foot sunk down and cut deep. 

The last demonic dog threw itself up only to be caught by a clawed hand, thrown back down just to also be stomped. The two demon bodies fizzled and turned to slop.

Cold rain was not the only reason she shivered. Her breath stuttered as the long neck turned slightly. 

Lightening illuminated a tall draconic profile, long of limb and claw, for a second before it was dark again. And the next second, the creature wasn't there. 

The girl lay curled against the wall, not moving. Rain fell and flowed past her on the ground, red from her blood and thick from the demons ooze. 

Her ear-jacks were still slightly extended, ready to defend. But nothing moved except the ever falling rain and running of groundwater. 

Jirou struggled up and limped into the main street, going for help and home. 

~~~~

More demons died that night. Any that were out in the downpour, his shadow fell on and claws cut down.

Most were devil-dogs and chanters, small pestering demons.

That night the rain swept away many piles of degenerating demonic remains… all run down to nothing but a memory and flowing harmlessly to sewer.

But his hunt yielded two man-sized. Finally a worthier opponent, teeth flashed as they fought, but still they fell too. After all, He was a Hunter, with shifting and strength far more powerful than the infantile demons yet come through to this world. 

His human body grew tired, not able to hold the almost full demonic form any longer. 

Demonic features subsided, revealing the darker complexion and still unnatural human body of a devilman. 

His fully human emotions had yet to kick in, still drowned in Hell’s compulsion. But he was quiet now, crouched on a ledge, watching the rain slow and clouds calm, city lights growing brighter in the clearing air. 

He would come back to himself with time but for now the world passed on by, and he with no note for the security camera footage and witness statements which detectives would scrounge over, searching for clues to whoever or whatever had wiped out a mass of the evil scurrying in their city, which they’ve had such a hard time culling. 

No, no note at all. Not yet, at least. 

**Author's Note:**

> [Playlist for the story](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1HgxgWkUdKuZddivq1Hjwk?si=sGXV3yqTSF6V51ERa4zPjg)


End file.
